Where is Baby Gabriel? Arizona Woman Refuses to Help Police Find Missing Son
Jan. 6, 2010— -- Two sets of parents caught up in a bizarre custody dispute are frantic with worry about a missing 8-month-old baby and are begging his mother to tell police the truth about what she did with him.
Gabriel Johnson's biological father, Logan McQueary, said he fears Elizabeth Johnson may have killed their son, despite the lack evidence. But a couple who had been in talks to adopt the baby are sticking by the Arizona mother, saying she hid Gabriel to protect him.
Tammi and Jack Smith told "Good Morning America" today that Johnson gave her baby to an unknown couple while on the run in San Antonio, Texas.
Johnson, 23, of Tempe, Ariz., disappeared before Christmas after McQueary refused to let her adopt out their son. She had lost custody of Gabriel after failing to appear at a Dec. 28 court hearing.
She was arrested Dec. 29 in Miami Beach for interfering with custody -- without Gabriel.
"What she is telling us is that she met a family, a Caucasian man and woman with no child -- young," Tammi Smith told "Good Morning America."
"And she met them in the park. And she was crying and distraught and they came up to her and said, 'How can we help you?'"
When pressed for details about the couple, Smith said Johnson didn't remember much despite having spent three days with them, just that the woman's first name was "Cheryl." Tammi Smith said Johnson told her she purposely tried not to focus on their car or last names so she wouldn't be tempted to change her mind and get her son back.
"She believed she was doing a closed adoption," Tammi Smith said.
In a jailhouse interview Tuesday with a Phoenix CBS affiliate, Johnson reiterated her claim that she had given Gabriel to a couple she met at a San Antonio Park.
"I made a hasty decision and I thought it was OK," she said. "They approached me. I was out alone with the baby at the park. I trusted them, I believe in my heart they are good people."
Johnson is scheduled to be extradited to Arizona this week.
Police have also questioned the Smiths and searched their home but found no clues to indicate where Gabriel might be.
Authorities have said witnesses last saw the child in San Antonio.
The FBI found Johnson's car in a San Antonio motel parking lot Tuesday night. According to ABC affiliate KNXV, investigators were combing the car for evidence but said there were no obvious signs of violence.
